Mastitis in Traditional Chinese Medicine

If a nursing mother is easily impacted by anger and her emotions are repressed, her Qi will rebel upwards and stagnate in the Liver, which connects to the nipples through the Liver Channel. This leads the milk ducts or nipple orifices to clog, milk cannot come out and thus forms lumps or nodules in the breasts. The nursing mother feels swelling and hardness in the breasts and a strong sharp pain during breastfeeding. Sometimes, only one of the breasts' nipples are clogged and it leads to an uneven milk supply. 

If Liver Qi does not flow properly for a while and it is left untreated, it accumulates toxic Heat that can transform into blisters, abscesses and pus discharge. Fever often comes along in this situation.  

The formula Unblock Nursing Tea is recommended because it contains herbs ideally suited to fight this pattern. The treatment principle is to invigorate Qi and Blood (Unblock Nursing Tea contains the herbs Dong Quai and Platycodon which are ideal for this), to expel Heat and toxins (Dandelions, Honeysuckle flowers and Chrysanthemum flower), pacify the Liver (Goji berries) and clear pus (Angelica root).

Another important point is that during breastfeeding, the nursing mother is recommended to massage the breast lumps or nodules to soften them. As home remedies, she can apply hot pad right before the feeding to speed up the milk flow and apply cold pad to ease pain when necessary. She is highly encouraged to breastfeed or pump more often so as to ease the breast engorgement and clogged milk duct.